Tortoise Media

A London news publisher built on 'slow news', with a daily newsfeed, podcasts and live member discussions called ThinkIns.

About Tortoise Media

Tortoise Media is a British news publisher that does not chase breaking news. Instead it tries to explain the forces driving the headlines. Its main work is a daily 'slow newsfeed' of a few in-depth pieces, plus podcasts, a quarterly book of longer reads and live events. It covers areas such as technology, natural resources, identity, finance and longevity. The Tortoise Quarterly is a short book of longer reads, described as 'modern fables, true tales, old stories re-examined, new ones revealed'. A jobs-site profile also says its podcasts reached nearly 3 million monthly downloads in December 2021.

Tortoise describes its approach as 'open journalism' and 'a different kind of newsroom', with the motto 'Slow down, wise up'. At launch it said it wanted to 'make sense of the forces shaping our future, to investigate what's unseen', and that it cares 'what happens next' after a story is published. It says it is independent, not party political and carries no advertising.

Tortoise was founded in 2018 and launched its website in April 2019. It is based in London, and a jobs-site profile gives its address as 22 Berners Street, W1. Its live ThinkIns, which are open news conferences where members can question journalists and guests, take place in London. In 2024 it agreed to buy The Observer newspaper, and the sale completed in April 2025, which widened its UK reach. Tortoise began with a Kickstarter campaign in 2018 that raised more than £500,000 from supporters who wanted a different kind of newsroom, and ThinkIns were planned to tour places such as churches, retirement homes and prisons. It won Innovation of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in 2019.

The company was started by James Harding, a former editor of The Times and former Director of BBC News, Katie Vanneck-Smith, a former Dow Jones president, and Matthew Barzun, a former US ambassador to the UK. A jobs-site profile says it has roughly 21 to 100 employees and says the culture is about depth and accuracy over speed and 'everyone has a seat at the table'. These are the company's own claims.

People who work there include reporters, editors, podcast and audio producers, events and membership teams, and partnerships and commercial staff, and the team has included well-known journalists such as Ceri Thomas and Giles Whittell. The roles come from the mix of journalism, audio, live events and community that the business runs. Tortoise's own careers pages were not read, so check its website for the latest roles.

What they do

• {'desc': 'A slow newsfeed of a few in-depth pieces each day.', 'title': 'Tortoise Daily newsfeed'}
• {'desc': 'Narrative investigations and discussion shows.', 'title': 'Podcasts'}
• {'desc': 'Live open news conferences where members join the debate.', 'title': 'ThinkIns'}
• {'desc': 'Sunday newspaper bought by Tortoise in 2025.', 'title': 'The Observer'}

Key facts

• Founded 2018; website launched April 2019 (Wikipedia)
• Founders James Harding, Katie Vanneck-Smith and Matthew Barzun (Press Gazette, Wikipedia)
• London address 22 Berners Street (jobs-site profile)
• Bought The Observer, completed April 2025 (Wikipedia)

Website: www.tortoisemedia.com